Within the context of this specification, gondola, gondola run, gondolas and gondola islands all refer to store shelving known in the field. Gondolas, such as the one depicted in FIGS. 13A-13C, are known with or without a central support column and with one or two sides having shelving attached. Warehouse pallet racking is also known, such as pallet racking used in home centers and warehouses. Unless otherwise expressly indicated, the term gondolas refer to both a single gondola or a gondola run having a plurality of gondolas or both.
Lifting systems are known that use a plurality of caster wheels to mobilize empty gondolas or gondolas that have at least a portion of the racked products removed from the gondolas. U.S. Patent Publication 2007/0194546, published Aug. 23, 2007, and U.S. Patent Publication 2007/0059138, published Mar. 15, 2007 illustrate systems with a screw or hydraulic jack for lifting gondolas, the description and drawings of which are hereby incorporated for background herein. Two devices are disposed on opposite sides of the gondolas at each upright support, which may be accessible behind a kick plate. Each upright support is raised using the lifting apparatus and the gondola, even if quite long, is movable using the lifting system as a hand truck, with each of the hand trucks being moved at the same time.
However, deep gondolas and gondolas with products racked on the gondolas cannot be moved using these known devices. An upright support in the middle of a gondola, between two opposite sides of the gondola, bows excessively, causing damage to the gondola support structure and tumbling of the products. Thus, a time consuming unracking and reracking of at least a significant portion of the products on the gondolas is required in order to mobilize the gondolas.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/364,177, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein, teaches a system for mobilization of stocked gondolas that allows for mobilization without removing shelving and without removing the products from the shelving of the gondolas or pallet racking. The system described a lifting mechanism attachable an H-support or other upright support of pallet racking, such as for use in mobilization of the pallet racking, but only from an exposed front or side of the H-support. Using the system for mobilizing a gondola permits even very deep and very wide gondolas to be mobilized, without unracking and/or disassembly of the gondolas and/or removal of product from the shelves, when a pair of opposing members are positioned such that the members extend along the depth of the gondola from one side to an opposite side. Each pair of opposing members is positioned such that the pair of members is disposed on opposite sides of a gondola support. A slidable middle lift bracket on each of the pair of opposing members is positioned at the middle, upright support of the gondola, and may have additional lift brackets disposed at other upright support members of the gondola. An interlinking tongue and loop system may be used to slide under the supports and to engage one lift bracket to its opposite lift bracket. Thus, the pair of opposing members may provide rigid support to the gondola, when the pair of opposing members are lifted, allowing for mobilization of the gondola. In this system, a modified jack engaged each end of each of the opposing members, such as a screw or hydraulic mechanism coupled with a pair of forks capable of engaging the pair of opposing members, such that the forks raise and lower the pair of opposing members together, at the same time. The forks are fixed in position and are not capable of displacement to make positioning of the jack in narrow inaccessible spaces.
In one example, a hand crank, such as a hand crank and screw similar to that of a boat trailer hitch apparatus, is used to lift a pair of forks inserted into the opposing members. A screw and handcrank is capable of replacing a heavier, more expensive and harder to maintain hydraulic jack, for example, when a plurality of such lift mechanisms are coupled to opposite ends of a plurality of the support apparatuses spaced at intervals along a gondola run. No single lift mechanism is required to exceed its rated lifting potential. The lack of any significant sagging from one side of the gondola reduces the height that the lift must raise the gondola to mobilize it, because the support bar is capable of supporting the supporting structure of the gondola a plurality of support points, such as three or more support points. In some of the examples, three support points are disclosed, but additional support points may be added in other applications requiring support of larger spans, for example.
Single sided gondolas and islands may be raised and lowered similarly to the double-sided gondolas provided in the examples. In single sided gondolas, a support bar may be supported on only one side by a lift mechanism or on both sides. If supported on only one side by a lift mechanism, then other end of the support bar may be unsupported, requiring a counterbalance on the lift mechanism, or may be provided with a low-profile caster wheel that provides a fulcrum at an opposite end of the support bar assembly for lifting of the gondola during raising of the end of the support bar assembly attached to the lift mechanism, for example. In this way, a gondola having one side against a wall may be mobilized, for example, using a plurality of lift mechanisms along the side of the gondola facing away from the wall, only, while the low-profile casters inserted into or onto the support bar assemblies allow the support bar assemblies to be inserted and aligned under the gondolas.
Instead of forks, other structures are suggested to mount the lifting apparatus to the support structures used in lifting of the gondolas or to the gondolas, themselves. These other structures may be grabs, bolts or fingers, for example. Grabs are L-shaped extensions from a surface of the lift mechanism that are capable of engaging slots in a coupling mechanism or a gondola. For example, forks may be attached to an attachment member having slots that engage the grabs, allowing the forks to be positioned in the ends of the gondola support bars prior to engaging the lift apparatus to the forks. Then, the lift apparatus may be positioned such that the grabs engage the slots in the attachment member of the forks, and the lift apparatus may be raised until the grabs firmly engage in the slots prior to raising the gondolas. Bolts are fasteners extending from the lift mechanisms that are coupled with nuts or plates having a threaded or other coupling mechanism for attachment to the bolts when inserted through a hole or slot in the gondolas or the attachment member of the forks, for example. Fingers are projections, shaped or straight that matingly engage the gondola or the attachment member of the forks, for example. Thus, when properly engaged to the supports or the gondolas, the lift mechanism provides for a positive displacement upward and downward. However, these other structures did not suggest the use of any structures capable of moving, pivotally, while remaining engaged to the lift mechanism.
Shelving used in warehouses, superstores, consumer retail clubs and home improvement stores cannot be moved using a lifting bar mechanism. Furthermore, these types of shelves are usually positioned back-to-back to form aisles with little space between the shelves, making it difficult to insert any known lifting mechanism between the shelves. Instead, only the sides of the shelving are accessible for coupling to the jacks described in a Mobilization System for Lifting and Mobilization of Gondolas.